Variable-speed apparatus.



N1. TOURHEH.. VARIABLE SPEED APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, 1913.

lp29 Pafenfed June 11, 1918.

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IVI. TOURREIL.

VARIABLE SPEED APPR'ATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7, |913.

LQI@ Patented June 11, 1918.

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/VNVEN'TORI MUR/cs ToURRE/L M. TOURREIL.

VARIABLE sPx-:En APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 7. 1913. l 1,269 933 Patented June 11, 1918.

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snaren strains entrenar MAURICE TOURREIL, 0F NANTES, FRANCE.

- VARlCABLE-SPEED .lPPAlRhallUS.

Lacasse.;

To alt/whom t may concern.'

Be it known that l, MAURICE TOURREIL, a

citizen of the Republic'of France, and a are approximately equal to the small axis` of the ellipse.l l

rllhe invention relates in particular to an apparatus of this character in which the pump and the motor may, at will, turn simultaneously in either direction or one in one direction and the other in the opposite direction. i

ln the accompanying drawings,

Figure l is a vertical section through an apparatus in which my invention is embodied and showing the parts in aposition Asuch that the rotors turn in 'opposite directions Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the same.

apparatus with the parts in a position such that the direction of the rotors is reversed from that shown in Fig. 1'

Fig. 3 is a section on the ,line 8-3, Fig. 1;

Fig, 4 is a section through a modified construction of the pump body;

Fig. 5is a section on the line 5 5, Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6 6, Fig. 4;

Fig/7 is a diagrammatic View of an arrangement for automatically emptying nonworking compartments of the pumps;

Fig. 4a is a partial section corresponding tovFig. 4 but showing one compartment of the pump as a circulating pump for the cooling of the fluid; and

Fig. 5il is a View thereof similar to Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 the two engines c and e are placed one above .the other and in such a manner that the shafts a and b shallbe parallel. a1 and b1 are the disks,

a2 and b2 are the corresponding flat pistons. The engine c acts as a pump and the engine e as a motor. rlhe pump bodies are shaped in the form of an ellipse of slight eccentricity. The axes a and b of the pump 0 and motor e are placed in such position that all the chords passing through these axesare Specification of Letters Patent. Pgatmgd Jiu-1m@ mi s 191g Appcation filed March 7, 1913.

Serial No. 752,867.

respectively substantially equal to the short axis of the ellipse of the respective pump bodies. ln order to recover as static pressure the live pressure of the liquid on its emergence from the small pump body without lossof charge and in order to communicate the necessary velocity thereto on its emergence from the large pump body to enter the small pump body and lill it, the connecting pipes between the large and small pump bodies are given the form of conveniently arranged nozzles fm, and g. in order to reduce as much as possible the losses of charge of the fluid these pipes are connected to pipes of constant section which are as short as possible. All internal pro-y jections and roughnesses are eliminated as `well as variations of section or too rapid changes of direction.

in the force and-suction mains m and g are arranged two gate valves CZ which. are conjugated and which act as a reversing cock. By their operation the exhaust and supply pipes for the liquid under pressure to the motor e are reversed and the move ment of this engine is reversed. .4 crossing of the current of liquid in motion is produced which is similar to the crossing of an ordinary belt for the purpose of reversing the motion of a transmitting shaft. If the reversing valves be opened together a shuntof the liquid is produced between the suction and the force and the receiving motor e then rotates at a reduced speed which becomes more reduced the greater the shunt 1s. to the slipping of an ordinary belt.

' lf the reversing valves are placed in the 'central position the receiving motor e remains stationary while the pump c4continues to rotate being carried around by its driving connection.

If while the motor e is working in one direction the reversing valves are operated to produce the reversal of its working a braking action will be applied to the shaft b which slows down and stops. A suitably loaded safety valve permits this braking action to be so limitedv that the pressure of the liquid never acquires a dangerous value in. the apparatus.

Upon thepipes g and m are placed two compressed air reservoirs 1' and s which act as dash pots.

Before starting there, is created in these reservoirsby the aid of small hand pump a lt is an action which maybe likened 'll`, T upon the driving pulley and a tension T2 T0 upon the driven pulley.

As has been seen the variable speeds fof the shaft b are obtained by the aid ot shunt of a portionv of the liquid. They consevquently bring about a loss of power and lower the eciency of the transmission.-

The apparatus shown in Figs. l to 6 is designed to remedy the inconvenience and permits the different compartments c1 o2 c3 c4 of the pump c to be short-circuited upon each other successively by causing their suction and force sides to communicate with each other. rlhe compartments which are not iso- Y' llated continue to supply the active liquid to thepipes oit' the" reversing motor. The transmlssion can therefore be ed'ected with 'Das many ratios of speed or different variations as can be carried out by the dierent ratios between the volume of the compartments of the engine c .which are not isolated and the volume of the receivingl engine.

For this purpose the various force pipes p ofthe various compartments open into a cylindrical collecting'pipe u in which a piston x works. According to the position occupied by the piston the liquid is forced toward one or theother end of the pipe u.

V The various suction pipes 0 of the various" compartments open into another cylindrical collecting pipe v identical with the first one and arranged parallel thereto. ln the pipe o works a piston y. According to the position occupied by the piston. y the liquid entering the pump compartments must come either from one end or the other othe collecting pipe o. The two pistons are conjugated in such a manner that they always remain together at the same height and that they consequently uncover at the same time the suction and force oriices of one and the samecompartment. v f1 y llt therefore the left hand ends (for eirample) of the cylindrical pipes u and o respectiveiy be caused to communicate withthe collecting pipes g and m of the pump,

rand 'it their right hand ends be connected together by a pipe of curved form t, all the compartments placed on the left of the pistons will work eiectively while the compartments lplaced on the right will be shortcireuited on each other.

` Instead .of dividing the pump c into several compartments the receiving motor e Laeaese may be divided and the various compartments short-circuited on each other by. the aid oit an exactly similar arrangement. 'l necessary the two apparatus may also be combined, that is to say the short-circulating of the compartments of two engines may 'the apparatus which imparts to the shaft 'b for ,one and the same speed'of the shaft a all the speeds either forward or backward comprised between zero and a certain maximum speed.

For' certain of these speeds obtained by the short-circuiting of compartments and without any shunt of the Huid there 'is no loss ot power and the efficiency assumes its maximum value. between the preceding ones, it is necessary to have recourse to the shunt. The efficiency is then lowered but this does not present any great inconvenience in practice if carebe ltaken to so select the volumes of the compartmentsthat the speeds obtained without 4any shunt shall be the speeds oi the ordinary kind required, the intermediate speeds,

that is to say those which are obtained by the use of theshunt, being then speeds called working speeds.

When a large number of compartments are short-circuited on each other, the agitation of the liquid they contain uselessly absorbs a large amount of work which is the cause of the lowering of the eiliciency oi the apparatus for highratios of transmission:

This disadvantage can be avoided by insuring the automatic emptying and filling ofthe compartments which cease to'work or those which it is desired to throw into action again by the aid of an arrangement such as that shown in Fig. 7.

'lihe curved pipe t which establishes communication between the two cylindrical collecting pipes u and v is dispensed with. A third cylinder A is connected to the cylinders u and o. ln this cylinder works a piston D the strolreoi which is equal to that of the pistons w and y and the rod ot which is worked in the same time as those of the pistons .t and y.

rlhe section of the cylinder A is determined in such a manner that the piston D produces, for each movement corresponding tothe cutting out of circuit of a compartment oi' the engine c, a volume equal to that ot this compartmentl and the dead spaces which depend thereon..

For intermediate speeds ldd ldd

Laeaeee A pipe E puts the yright hand end of the cylindrical pipe uV into communication with theI right hand end of thecylinder A. A spring valve F, which opens outward, is placed at the beginning of the pipe E upon. the cylinder u. A second pipe Gr puts the right hand end of the cylinder A into communication withl the left hand end of the cylindrical pipe fu. A /spring valve H, which opens outward, is placed at the beginning of the pipe G upon the cylinder A.

lVhen the operating lever isy worked to short-circuit a 'compartment cf the machine c, the liquid which fills this compartment and its dead spaces is forced by the fiat piston a? through the cylindrical pipe u; the valve F and the pipe E and fills the empty space which the piston D has produced in the cylinderA. i

When the operating lever is worked to throw a compartment of the .engine c into operation again, the y piston D forces through the valve H, the pipe G and the cylindrical pipe '11, a volume of liquid sufiicient to fill the next compartment put into operation.

Experience has shown that in order to insure a sufficient cooling of the liquid it is necessary to cause it to circulate in a refrigerator cooled by water or air at a low temperature. 'This circulation may be obtained by the aid of' a small independent rotary pump. @ne `of the compartments of the engine c may with advantage be used as a circulating pump. This is illustrated in Figs. 4a and 5a. The compartment 01 is so constructed that the fluid is circulated when the remaining compartments 02-04 are shortcircuited. The ori-4 `tice establishing communication between the compartment c1 and the delivery passage u is omitted, while the orifice 'v1 which connects c1 with the-suction passage c is retained (Fig. 5a). The fluid enters c1- through v1 and is delivered to the port u1 leading to a cooling coil us of any lsuitable character, whence it is led back through pipe M4 and port u2 into the suction pipe m.

It will b understood that it is vpossible by a suita le change of form and very slight extension of the suction and force pipes, to place the motive and receiver parts so that the two shafts a andb occupy any relative position.

Finally in the same way as the fluid under pressure forced up by the 'motive part can be utilized in two or more receive the motive fluid under pressure forced up by two ,or more motor pumps driven by different motors.

i., The apparatus according to this invention-consequently" permits of the distributhe motive power furnished by-one and .the same motor shaft or of the concentration.

`upon one and the same receiving shaft of the power furnished by two or more motor shafts.

What l claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

'1. A variable speed transmission apparatus comprising a plurality of geometrically similar rotary pumps, conduits connecting said pumps, valves controlling the reversal of directionV of flow through said conduits, the rotary elements of said pumps moving in harmony with the movement of liquid therethrough and operating indifferently as pump or motor and in either direction of rotation, the body of at least one of said pumps comprising a plurality of compartments, intake and discharge collecting chambers common to said compartments and communicating with each other at one end and with the intake and discharge conduits connecting the 'pumps at their other ends, in combination .with lvalves working in harmony in said collecting chambers to short circuit said collecting chambers or to open the same to the 'circulating conduits connecting the pumps.

2. A variable speed transmission apparatus comprising a plurality of geometrically similar rotary pumps, conduits connecting said pumps, valves controlling the reversal of direction of How through said conduits, the rotary elements of said pumps moving .in harmony with 'the movement ofk liquid therethrough and operating indifferently as pump or motor and in either direction of rotation, the body of at least one of said pumps comprising a plurality of compartments, intake and discharge collecting chambers of cylindrical shape common to said compartments and communicating with each other at one end and with the intake and discharge conduits connecting the pumps at their other ends, in combination with piston valves working in harmony in said collecting chambers to short circuit said collecting chambers or to open the same to the circulating conduits connecting the pumps.

3. .A variable speed transmission appara tus comprising a plurality of geometrically similar rotary pumps, conduits connecting said pumps, valves controlling the reversal of direction of flow through said conduits, the rotary elements of said pumps moving in harmony with the movement of liquid therethrough and operatingindiiferently as pum or motor'and in either direction of rotation, the body of at least one of said pumps comprising a plurality of compartments, intake and discharge collecting chambers common to said compartments and communicating with each other at one end and with the intake andA discharge conduits connecting the pumps at their other ends, in combination with valves Working in harmony in said collecting chamber to short circuit said collecting chambers or to open the same to the circulating conduits connecting the pumps, together with means for automatically emptying the short circuited compartments of the pump.

4. A variable speed transmission apparatus comprising a plurality of geometrically similar rotary pumps, conduits connecting said pumps, valves controlling the reversal of direction of flow through said conduits, the rotary elements of said pumps moving` in harmony with the movement of liquid therethrough and operating indii'erently as pump or motor and in either direction of rotation, the body' of at least one of said pumps comprising a plurality of compartments, intake and discharge collecting chambers of cylindrical shape common to said compartments and communicating with each other at one end and with the intake and discharge conduits connecting the pumps at their other ends, in combination with piston valves working in harmony in said collecting chambers to short circuit said collecting chambers or to open the same to the circulating conduits connecting the pumps, together with an auxiliary reservoir ycylinder opening to said collecting cylinders, a piston working therein in harmony with the pistons in the collecting1v cylinders, a valve controlling the connection between said reservoir cylinder and the discharge collecting cylinder, the capacity of said reservoir cylinder being suchI that its piston opens a space corresponding in volume to the cubic capacity of a pump compartment on the short circuiting of the latter by the pistons of the collecting cylin` ders, substantially as described.

5. A variable speed transmission appara- 'Leccese tus comprising a plurality of geometrically similar rotary pumps one of which serves as a motor, conduits connecting said pumps,

valves controlling the reversal of direction of How through saidy conduits, said con-` 6. iftA variable speed transmission apparatus comprising a plurality of geometrically similar rotary pumps, conduits vconnecting said pumps, valves controlling the reversal of direction of flow through said conduits,

the rotary elements of said pumps moving in harmony with the movement of liquid therethrough and operating indi'erently as` pump or motor and in either direction of rotation, the body of at least Aone of said pumps comprising a plurality of compartments, intake and discharge collecting chambers common to said compartments,

and valves in said collecting chamber for cutting o' or opening said compartments to the circulating conduits connecting the pumps, a cooling radiator, means forconnecting one of said compartments with said radiator and returning the Huid to the apparatus, and means for preventing discharge from said compartment save through said pipe, substantially as described.

ln testimony whereof i have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribinf witnesses.

Mannion ronnnnnt. Witnesses:

Roncnnr, R. ]E. LoMenAN. 

